Over 1.30 cr families to get potable water under Jal Jeevan Mission: CM Yogi

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 26 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said that ‘Har Ghar Nal-Har Ghar Jal’, a grand campaign is going on to provide pure drinking water to 2.65 crore rural families of the state.

“Before the start of Jal Jeevan Mission, only 5.16 lakh families had access to pure drinking water from the tap. Due to continuous efforts, today the dream of pure drinking water has come true for more than 1.30 crore families,” CM Yogi said.

Determined to provide pure drinking water to every citizen of the state, CM Yogi reviewed the progress of the Jal Jeevan Mission and Namami Gange project in a high-level meeting and called for intensifying efforts to provide tap water to every household while giving necessary guidelines.

“A total of 59.38 lakh connections have been provided in the financial year 2022-23 alone. The remaining houses should also get piped drinking water in a phased and time-bound manner,” he added.

Jal Jeevan Mission is the priority of the respected Prime Minister. Its implementation is being continuously reviewed by the Government of India. It is heartening that all three districts (Gautam Budh Nagar, Jalaun and Shahjahanpur) in the Achiever category in the June 2023 survey are from Uttar Pradesh, he added.

He further said, “Mainpuri and Auraiya have got the top two positions in the Performers category, while Azamgarh has topped in the Aspirants category. Similar efforts should be made in all the districts.”

“Since April 2022, 22,714 tap connections were being installed every month in the state, which reached 12.96 lakh connections every month in May 2023. Presently 43,000 tap connections are being installed every day, which needs to be increased to 50,000 daily,” he mentioned.

The Prime Minister has set a target of March 2024 for the completion of the Jal Jeevan Mission, so ensure the provision of tap water to every house by this time at any rate, he said.

The success of national schemes like the Jal Jeevan Mission, which makes life easier for the common man, depends on the performance of Uttar Pradesh.

“Uttar Pradesh is a big state, so our responsibility is also big. There is no dearth of funds for the Jal Jeevan Mission. Manpower should be increased as per the requirement. A trained plumber should be posted in every village. There should be no unnecessary delay in this,” CM Yogi said.

He further emphasized that pure drinking water was a dream for the Bundelkhand and Vindhya regions. Today this dream is coming true. Both these areas are a top priority. With continuous efforts, Mahoba is going to become the first district in the state, where every house will have a tap water facility.

“Achieve the target of providing tap water connection to every house in Jhansi, Lalitpur, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Banda, Chitrakoot, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra and the whole of Vindhya-Bundelkhand region in the next two months,” he said.

He further stated, out of 98,445 villages in the state, work is in progress in 91,919 villages. Complete the work in all the villages within the time limit. The process of approval of SLSSC for 6800 villages for which DPR is ready, should be completed as soon as possible in each case.

He emphasised the harvesting of rainwater and said, “Rainwater harvesting should be encouraged in the villages. This can become a good model of water harvesting for the country.”

There should be no unnecessary delay in providing electricity connection in order to supply piped drinking water to the Vindhya-Bundelkhand region. Namami Gange Department and Energy Department should complete this work in time with mutual coordination, he added.

He further said, “Reservoirs have a major role in the water supply in Bundelkhand. There is a problem with silt in them. Action should be taken to de-silt the reservoirs by the Irrigation and Water Resources Department.”

He further said that 100 per cent saturated villages should be verified with transparency through Jal Jeevan Mission.

“If even a single consumer is dissatisfied, their expectations should be met. We have to further strengthen the system of on-site inspection. There should be complete cleanliness and transparency in the procedure. Along with water supply, ensuring good quality of water is of paramount importance,” he mentioned.

Special efforts are being made under Jal Jeevan Mission for the improvement of water quality in affected areas due to arsenic, fluoride, salinity, nitrate,iron etc, he said.

In this regard, additional financial assistance is being provided by the Government of India. Work in these areas needs to be expedited.

He further added that with the resolution of Aviral-Nirmal Maa Ganga, good results have been seen in the ongoing Namami Gange project in mission mode for the cleanliness of Ganga and its tributaries.

“There are 27 Ganga Janpads and 37 Ganga Towns in the total 1027 km of Ganga river flow in the state. In the past, there was a polluted stretch of 550 km from Kannauj to Varanasi which came under Priority 04 in terms of quality. Due to improvement in the water quality of the said polluted section, it has come under priority 5 from November 2022. Now we have to pay special attention to Farrukhabad to Prayagraj and Mirzapur to Ghazipur sections,” he said.

He further said that in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam (Urban) needs to increase the utilization capacity of underutilized 120 MLD Goitha STP.

“The approved 55 MLD capacity STP scheme should be completed as soon as possible for tapping the eighty nala over-pulls. Similarly, complete the upgradation of 01 non-compliant STP in Varanasi in a time-bound manner with the help of Railways,” he said.

Baniapur STP under UP Jal Nigam (Urban) should be made operational in Kanpur. Make four non-compliant STPs functional immediately, he added.

Similarly, for the treatment of tannery effluent at Jajmau, the efficiency of CETP of 36 MLD capacity is expected to be improved.